Porsche 250 Race at Barber Motorsports Raceway ~ July 26, 2009

What a fun race to go to! I took the kids out last year while Kevin was out of town and he was so bummed he didn't get to go....so, this year, my friend, Joan, got us free tickets from her husband who works there. Thanks Joan! Hearing those engines roar and rumble as the race cars fly by is so awesome! We also got to see some cool cars us close.

Going to Colorado ~ July 4-11, 2009

My hotel kiddos.

Driving through Clayton, NM.

Ahhh, cheap motels...

We made it to Colorado!

We drove 3 days to get to Colorado to vacation with my parents, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins for a week. We all have cabins in the same ranch and everyone is bringing their four wheelers to go exploring through the mountains. It should be a blast! Most of the drive was crops and fields...flat, flat, flat...until the got into Colorado - WOW! Beauty all over. We love a good adventure, so really we just drove all day until we were ready to stop and we would just find a hotel and hope for a vacancy -it worked out perfectly. We also made sure we drove through Clayton, NM- just for Clayton! Although it was dark and raining when we got there - so the picture did not turn out as well as I had envisioned! We stayed at every cheap hotel along the way to and fro Colorado and Alabama! Hands down, Super 8 is the best for the money!

Our first 4Wheeler Ride in Colorado

Kaylee with Grandma

Nicholas with cousin Dianna

Mirror Lake

Kevin and me in the snow

Clayton in the snow

My little Sas!

Ghost town of Tin Cup

Feeding the squirrels in Tin Cup

Feeding the chipmunks

You think he gets enough food?

Beautiful.

Kevin and Nicholas

This was so much fun! We went out for a full day of four wheeling in the mountains of Colorado. We saw so much of God's beautiful creation! We visited the ghost town of Tin Cup, got to feed squirrels and chipmunks, and even fished a bit in Mirror Lake where we stopped for lunch. Kevin and I rode on a four wheeler, Clayton rode with Papa, Nicholas rode with cousin Dianna, and Kaylee rode with Grandma. What an adventure!

Fishing

There was a small lake on the property where our cabins were and Clayton loves to go fishing. Kevin took the kids and helped them with the fly hooks and right away Clayton caught a big lake Rainbow Trout. The rules are to catch and release, so we unhooked him and set him free.

That fish was not very happy about being caught in the first place though and it flopped around in the lake , swimming belly up, peeking up int he water and then swimming down below - giving quite a show really! After about 30 minutes, it finally gave up on life and we fished him out of the water, packed him on ice, and sent him off to be mounted (at Clayton's request). We should get him back in a few weeks. Now, back to fishing with the kids...not much more happened after all that. Nicholas threw in a few times, got bored with that and quit, and Kaylee wasn't interested in all that but was happy to watch.

Sink or Swim!

To continue on one of the trail rides we were on in Colorado, we had to cross a small pond. Kevin loved this part and went across with full confidence! We got a little muddy, but nothing a washing machine can't take out.

Alpine Tunnel Trail

One of our four wheeler excursions was to the old Alpine Tunnel. It sits atop a mountain and the pathway used to be a railroad track that is now a dirt trail leading to the tunnel. Along the way you pass old mining sites, old water towers used to fill the steam engines, and old remaining tracks. It was neat to see everything and to see the way things used to be.

An Old Mining Site in Colorado

In the area we stayed in and rode four wheelers, were a lot of old mining sites. Here is one of them we came across by four wheeler. The buildings are half standing and equipment still remains. Makes you wonder how they got all that heavy equipment up those mountains so long ago! Also, the views are beautiful!